Curiosity Entertainment slate adds Laurie Seidman to lead film and TV
Curiosity hired Laurie Seidman to run film and TV and named John Maatta board chair as Storyteller Media set its first adaptations.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
The Curiosity Entertainment slate now has a new boss. Deadline reports that former CBS executive Laurie Seidman has been named head of film and television at the production company as its publishing arm, Storyteller Media, rolls out its first page-to-screen projects.
Seidman will oversee Curiosity’s film and TV lineup, according to Deadline. She left her role as senior vice president of current programming at Paramount’s CBS Entertainment in December, after working on shows including The Talk and Bull. Deadline also reports that she produced NBC drama Medium.
Curiosity was co-founded by producer Adhrucia Apana and screenwriter and author Charles Allen, Deadline reports. The company is tied to Storyteller Media, its publishing subsidiary, in a model built around books that can also become films, TV shows, games and digital projects.
Apana said in the report that Curiosity wanted a leader with experience in both development and production as the company enters a new growth phase. Seidman said she had worked with Apana and Allen and was looking forward to helping expand the slate and bring the projects to audiences.
What is Storyteller Media?
Storyteller Media is Curiosity Entertainment’s publishing arm, according to Deadline. Its books are distributed worldwide by Macmillan, and the company signs titles with an eye toward both publishing and adaptation for screen and other platforms.
Deadline reports that Storyteller plans to publish 20 to 30 books a year across children’s books, young adult titles, adult fiction, fantasy, memoir and graphic novels. Each title is selected for its book potential while also being developed for possible film, television, gaming and other entertainment formats.
Apana’s producing credits cited by Deadline include HBO’s The Survivor, the feature Capone and John Ridley’s Needle in a Timestack. Allen previously ran an intellectual property incubator for authors and screenwriters spanning publishing and film, according to Deadline.
What titles are on the Curiosity Entertainment slate?
The lead projects include Goodman, Kaidro: The Awakening and Witches of Calabasas, Deadline reports.
Goodman is described in the report as a dramedy inspired by true events during the 2008 financial crisis. Apana and Allen are co-writing, casting director Robert Ulrich is producing, and Jason and Jamie Neese are attached to direct. Production is set to begin this fall, according to Deadline.
Kaidro: The Awakening is a manga franchise developed with Gadget-Bot Productions and set for global distribution through Macmillan, Deadline reports. Witches of Calabasas is a young adult fantasy series from Emmy-nominated journalist Frank Elaridi.
Other projects named in the slate include Kristina Denton’s You Don’t Know Dick, political thriller Pay to Play and The Traveling Audience, the debut novel from The Umbrella Academy producer Jason Neese, according to Deadline.
Curiosity has also brought in John Maatta as board chair, Deadline reports. Maatta is a former chief operating officer of The CW and is currently a partner at Frost LLP. In the report, he said Curiosity’s model centers on original intellectual property and combines publishing with screen development.
Deadline previously reported that Storyteller had made a deal with Los Angeles publishing house Gungnir for page-to-screen titles, including Gina Din’s autobiography Daughter of Africa. Allen founded Storyteller with Apana and Gungnir publisher Matthew Medney, according to the report.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.